Housing is more or less constantly trying to pull a fast one on RIT students. They often get away with it, but sometimes they just take things too far. Here's the story of how Housing tried to lock the basements of all the townhouses in my complex, and how I started a movement and stopped them by using social networking and a the power of rallying people behind a cause!

I grew up in an upper-middle class family with a fully stocked refrigerator. Sometimes we were out of peanut butter, but we were never out of food. So I decided to find out what it was like to go three days without eating. I did not alter my schedule at all, and I used Twitter to keep a constant log of how I was feeling.

I was faced with a choice. Should I look for a summer job, or should I blow a fair deal of my money and travel to 20 different cities across the country meeting new people, seeing new places, and training Parkour? No real contest. I took planes, trains, and busses and never spent a dime on housing by staying with parkour friends. Read the stories (be sure not to miss the Plane to San Francisco one), see the pictures, and watch the videos of my 8 week trip.

When I came to RIT as a freshmen, there were only two other people training in all of Rochester, and they were about 45 minutes away. Since I founded Rochester Parkour one year ago, we've had special Beginner Workshops with over 100 attendees, host training sessions with over 40 regulars, have had two television interviews and five newspaper articles, been featured by the Rochester Area Community Foundation nonprofit organization, negotiated to teach children's classes out of a gymnastics gym, and led free children's workshops for the Strong National Museum of Play.

And undoubtedly the coolest thing I've done... Backflips! What most people don't know about backflips is that they're also semi-legal tender in some places. I've done backflips for raffle tickets, backflips for cheese, and backflips for cash!

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We are not a school sponsored club, although we are working on it, but through grassroots advertising and word of mouth alone, the size of our regular meetings has doubled since last spring. This explosion in popularity is not just limited to RIT however. I have been in contact with many people from University of Rochester, Monroe Community College, and people from around the city.

In an effort to expand awareness of Parkour even more, I have decided to launch a new website, www.RochesterParkour.com

This website will serve as the central hub for all Parkour activities in the Rochester, New York area. We are not a team or a clan, we are simply a community. This website will function as a way to promote Parkour in Rochester, and to direct people who might be interested, but are unsure of where to start, to willing and able teachers. It will be a single website where they can read articles, look at pictures, and watch videos all relevant to the Rochester area. There will be information about workshops and classes being offered, as well as regular training times and locations.

The site is still new, and things will be constantly added. Soon I will be adding an "Articles" section, as well as "Quotes" and a link to our pictures, hosted on Flickr.

Last night I celebrated my birthday with a small handful of friends. We all had dinner at the Big River Grille off of Broadway and across from the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Nashville. Here are some photos:
[caption id="attachment_153" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Me with my good friend Ben Wilson (He co-produced my album.)"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_154" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="My friends got me a couple of shots to down. They were yummy!"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_155" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="With my dear friends Tony and Melody."][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_156" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="With my good friend and photographer extraordinaire Todd."][/caption]
Afterwards, we all went out to smoke some huckas. I LOVE HUCKAS!!! I was a hucka virgin until last night, but man, I've been missing out. That stuff is the bomb!!!! Huckas are quite flavorful and relaxing. Here is some evidence . . .
[caption id="attachment_157" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Hucka Heaven!!!"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_158" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Me and my girl Lola!!!"][/caption]
I'll post more photos from the celebration later!!
-g